Rope-weaving machine



F. McMILLAN, ROPE WEAVING MACH |.NE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1, I921.

Mwm. Patented Nov. 28 1922.

Y j wkf/wd i' Fred McMiIIan Patented Nov. 28, 1922.

ROPE WEAVING DIAGHINE.

Application filed November 1, 1921.

To all to 71.0% it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED Moli lILLAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Beaver Dam, in the county of Dodge and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hope eaving Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple, economical and effective portable rope weaving machine particularly for farmers use, and in solving the problem ot a weaving machine of this general type, par ticular thought and experiments has been directed towards producing a machine which can be manufactured at a normal cost and which will not deteriorate due to rough usage.

lVith the above object in view the invention consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts as will hereinafter be set forth in the accompany ing drawings and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 represents a face view of the rope strand twisting element constituting part of my invention,

Figure 2, a cross section of the same, the section being indicated by line 22 of F igure 1.

Figure 3, a detailed plan view showing the construction of one of the twisting elements.

Figure 4, a face view of a thread holder unit to be associated with the thread twistin unit, and

Figure 5, a diagrammatic plan view illus trating the apparatus in use, having a strand of binder twine or like thread wound back and forth upon the elements preparatory to twisting.

Referring by characters to the drawing, 1 represents a portable frame having pairs of legs 2 extending therefrom for clamping engagement with a fixture 3, which fixture may be the tail board of a wagon or other convenient point of anchorage. The frame proper is longitudinally divided to form a removable cap piece 1, whereby the trunnions 4t of a series of hooks may be conveniently journalled and assembled, the said trunnions being mounted in bushings i. The hoks 5 are of the ordinary open mouth type and the rear ends of the trunnions terminate with crank ends 5,

Serial No. 511,9?8.

which ends are ournalled in. a split pitman 6, the same being provided with a handle 6 whereby it is manually actuated to produce a simultaneous rotary motion of the series of hooks.

The above described mechanism constitutes a thread twisting unit, the other unit of the apparatus being a thread holder 7, as illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawings. Thethread holder, as shown, is so positioned with relation to the thread twisting unit (Figure 5), that it is aligned with the twisting unit and spaced therefrom the length of the rope which is to be manufactured,- it being understood that the holder is anchored approximately central with relation to the gang of books.

As shown in Figure 4, the twisting unit is anchored in a socket 8, or it may be fastened in any other suitable manner, as by screws or nails. The upper portion of the thread holder is formed with a reduced thread guiding neck 9 from which neck extends upwardly a pair of thread guiding prongs 10, the crotch 10 of the prongs being spaced to also form a thread guide, whereby said thread, when wound from the several hook units to the thread holder, will be spaced into a series of parallel groups corresponding to the number of hooks.

For example, referring to Figure 5, the thread may be started from the hook X in the direction of the arrow and it is initially wound about the neck 9 to the last of the series of hooks, as indicated at Y. The thread is then returned to the thread holder, as indicated by the arrows, and coiled about one of the prongs. From thence it is coiled about the intermediate hook Z and back over the opposite prong. The crotch in this winding serves to hold the strands of the hook Z in parallel relation. The strand, after being passed over the next prong, is trained over the intermediate hook Z and back into the crotch of the thread holder and over the inside of the prong downwardly to the neck 9 and from thence to the hook X where it is joined in any suitable manner to the initial end of the strand. This winding can be repeated an indefinite number of times, depending upon the strength or diameter of the rope required.

After the winding of the thread has been complete, the operator rotates the pitman 6, causing each group of thread units to be tightly coiled, due to the simultaneous rota tions of the hooks. After the twisting operation has been completed, four rope strands will result, in this particular exemplification of my invention, and when the rope strands have been removed, the twist or torsion thereof v ill cause the strands to produce an ordinary standard coil or twisted rope having four strands. Obviously the number of hooks can be varied indefinitely and also the nature of the thread to be formed into a rope. lrlowever in practice among farmers, it is preferable to utilize the standard type of binder twine.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that individuals can readily manufacture, by manual power, ropes necessary for all of their requirements from material at hand.

While I have shown and described one simple exemplification of my invention, it is understood that I may vary the details of construction within the scope of the claims.

I claim:

A portable hand power rope forming apparatus comprising a frame having downwardly extending clamping legs adapted to rigidly engage a fixture, and having a split body including a main part and a removable part having bearings therebetween, a series of hooks located on one side of said frame and having shanks positioned within said bearings, cranks located upon the opposite side of said frame from said hooks and formed integrally therewith, a pitman formed of two members clamped together and having bearings therebetween for receiving said cranks and a handle carried by said pitman.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Beaver Dam, in the county of Dodge and State of "Wisconsin.

FRED McMILLAN. 

